Shaving implement



Sept. 3, 1940.

N.v TESTI SHAVING IMPLEMENT Filed Dec. 1,v 1937 Patented Sept. 3, 1940 PATENT ioFFicE SHAVING IMPLEMENT Nicholas Testi, Boston, Mass., assignor to Gillette Safety Razor Company, Boston, Mass., a corporation of Delaware Application December 15, 1937, Serial No. 179,951

3 Claims.

This invention relates to dry shaving implementsrof the type employing shearing members of` circular or .cylindrical shape, particularly those having an annular shearing zone. Its gen- 5 eral objects are to improve the eiciency in operation of such implements andA to simplify their mechanical design sothat costs ofmanufacturing may be reduced. f i

One important feature of the invention consists in a guard member disposed Within the annular shearing zone of Ithe implement and preferably adjustable as to height relative to the shearing' teeth of the implement. As herein shown the outer and normally stationary shearing member-and its cooperating cutter lare arranged for adjustment together with respect` to the center. guard and without disturbing the shearing vrelation of these two members; that is to say, when the outer shearing member is moved downwardly or inwardly with respect to the guard the cooperating cutter carried with it.

vention on. account of the novel organization of the operative parts of the implement and makes provision for adjusting the closeness of the shaving operation eected by it.

As herein shown and' inY accordance with anotherfeature of the invention the center guard is so shaped as to provide a journal for the cutter. Thecutter and guard are mounted outside theend wall o f the casing and an oscillatory operating arm is mounted in the casing in direct connection with the actuating motor ofthe implement. The operating arm extends outwardly through the end wall of the casing into operative engagement with the cutter.

The center guard, in addition to its function as a guard for the shearing teeth and gauge for the sur-face being shaved may, if desired, be provided with a serrated rim which is el'ective for strm'ghtening and lifting bent over hairs to present; in favorable condition to the shearing zone.

Another feature of the ihventionconsists in a novel arrangement of shearing teeth in the cutter and in the outer stationary member or in 'either .of them. Heretofore, in an annular shearing zone the individual teeth have extended in substantially radial direction and their formation has required an extensive indexing operation. In accordance with one feature of the present invention, however, the shearing teethV are formed in separate groups in each vof which the teeth are all`disposed in parallel relation, although the teeth of adjacent groups are disposed in angular relation. B y this expedient the teeth about the entire circumference of an annular shearing zone may be formed by four, six or eight gang'cutting operations requiring only a corresponding number of indexing steps.v Ordinarily, the center teeth of each group will be disposed in radial position and those at each side of the groups will diverge somewhat from a'radial direction but this divergence does not impair the shearing efliciency of the annular shearing zone Ato any appreciable degree.

These and other features of the invention will be best understood and appreciated from'the following description of 'a preferred embodiment thereof, selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a view of the implement as seen from the end, on an enlarged scale;

Fig. 2 is a similar view in longitudinal section, a part of the implement being broken away;

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional View on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a view in elevation of the outer or stationary shearing member, a portion shown as being broken away;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the rotary cutter shown in Figs. 1 and 2';

' Figs. 6 and7 are plan 'and sectional view of a modified guard; and

Fig..8 is'a fragmentary view of a guard of an- Lother modied construction.

The implement h erein shown includes in its structure a casing Iy of plastic material, such as Bakelite which is shaped to serve as a handle for the implementand also as a housing for its operating motor. 'I'he casing I0 terminates at its upper end in a wall shaped as a fiat circular boss II having an external thread and an aperture IZnear one edge. The outer and stationary shear member comprises a cylindrical cap I3 having at its lower end an internal thread to receive the threadof the boss II and at its upper end a narrow inturned overhanging flange transversely slotted to form shearing teeth I5. 'Ihe cap I3 is also provided with elongated circumferential slots or openings I4 in its cylindrical vwallthrough which the shaving debris may be easily removed from the implement. A

The slots forming the shearing teeth I extend not only through the overhanging flange but downv into the cylindrical wall of the cap I3 so 5 that hairs may pass freely through them and reach the annular shearing zone beneath the overhangng portion of the teeth I5. The' slots are flared outwardly to facilitate the passage of. hairs. between the teeth. -The slots, moreover,

are arranged in eightV separate groups of seven parallel slots and thus each groups of slots may be cut by a gang cutter having seven identical cutting disks. It will be seen, therefore, that the teeth about the entire circumference of the cap I3 may be cut in eight positions of the cap instead of requiring fifty-six separate indexing steps, as would be necessary if the shearing teeth were each radially disposed.

A circular guard I6 having a concave face is disposed concentrically within the cap I3, being spaced uniformly within the inner periphery of the shearing teeth I5 by a narrow circular opening. The guard I6 has a threaded stem which is screwed intothe boss II of the casing, the stem having a cylindrical shank portion which serves as a journal for the `oscillatory cutter 2l. The cutter is circular in contour and cup-shaped. having a peripheral upstanding annular flange slotted to form shearing teeth 22 which, as shown in Fig. 5, may be arranged similarly to the stationary shearing teeth I5, that is to say, in eight groups of seven parallel slots forming the teeth `between them and angularly arranged in adjaadjusted as well as the height of the shearing V plane with reference to the center guard I6.

The casing or housing I0 contains the rotor I1 of a motor, partially shown in Fig. 2. At its upper end therotor shaft has an eccentric pin I8 which enters a slot formed in an oscillatory arm 4 I9 pivotally mounted beneath the boss II upon a vertical stud 2D. The arm I9 has an upturned end which extends up through the aperture I2 in the boss I I and engages an aperture 24 in the body of the cutter 2I It will be apparent that as the rotor I'l revolves the eccentric pin I8 will oscillate the arm I9 about the axis of the stud 20 and that the upturned end of the arm I9 will correspondingly 'oscillate the cutter 2| about the axis of the centrally disposed guard stem. The amplitude of oscillation is suicient to carry the shearing teeth of the cutter past the adjacent shearing teeth of the stationary member I3 so that each hair passing through the slots and projecting downwardly beneath the teeth I5 is immediately sheared. It will be noted that hairs may pass not only inwardly to the shearing zone,

but that the annular space between the center guard I6 and the inner ends of the shearing teeth permits the hairs to reach the shearing zone from its inner periphery as the implement is moved across the face of the user.

In Figs. 6 and 7 is shown an alternative form of center guard comprising a concave disk 26 having a serrated upstanding circumferential ring 21,' the purpose of this being to comb and straighten hairs which may pass to the shearing Zone from within the implement. lin-Fig. 8 a slightly different construction is shown in which the concave disk.28 of the center guard is serrated radially for the same purpose. The combing and straightening effect of the center guard, as well as its gauging effect, may be varied and regulated very conveniently by screwing the cap I3 up or down with respect to the guard as already explained. a

Having thus disclosed my invention I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

l. A ldry shaving implement having a casing terminating in a threaded circular boss, a cylindrical member threaded upon said boss and having an inturned flange at its outer end slotted to present an annular series of shearing teeth, a guard disk arranged concentrically within said series of teeth and having a stem secured in said boss, an annular toothed cutter journaled on said stem outside the boss, and actuating means for the cutter.

2. A dry shaving implement having a casing terminating in a projecting circular boss, a cylindrical member tted upon said boss and having an inturned flange at its outer end slotted to present an annular series of shearing teeth, a guard disk concentrically arranged within said series of teeth and having a stem secured in said boss, a rotary cutter journaled on the stem`of the guard disk and being adjustable together with the cylindrical member with respect to the guard disk, and actuating means for the cutter.

3. A dry shaving implement having a. casing terminating in a projecting circular boss, a cylindrical member tted upon said boss and having an inturned overhanging flange at its outer end slotted to present an annular series of stationary shearing teeth, a guard disk for de-A termining the closeness of the shearing operation concentrically mounted within said annular series'of teeth and having a stem secured in said boss, a rotary cutter concentric with respect to the guard disk and having shearing teeth 'cooperating with the stationary teeth of said annular series, and actuating means for the rotary cutter.

NICHOLAS TESTI. 

